Diane Littlefield uses photographs of people she does not know for unique art installation

By Kenneth Jessen For the Reporter-Herald

Posted:
05/21/2013 10:00:26 AM MDT

Diane Littlefield's photo collection started as a modest box of old photographs left in her attic and has now expanded to approximately 1,000 images. They are all of people, and she does not know the identity of a single one. About 700 of the photos are currently on display at the Loveland Feed and Grain building.
(Kenneth Jessen)

Click photo to enlarge

Diane Littlefield acquired this portrait of a young boy in Loveland. It is mounted in an expensive gilded frame. Can anyone identify the lad?

Like any endeavor, it started so innocently -- a box of old photographs that Diane Littlefield discovered in the attic of her home in Rochester, N.Y. It had been left there by some previous owner and probably forgotten.

There were seven images of people and looking at their faces, she wondered who they were or what happened to them. This got her interested and she began going to sales purchasing boxes of other images.

These may have been cases where no surviving family members were present to rescue them.

This was in 1975 and now Littlefield has about 1,000 images of people she does not know, and she has expanded her collection to France, Turkey and Japan. These lost memories and family treasures include the oldest dating back into the late 1800s and the newest in the 1940s.

Diane Littlefield acquired this portrait of a young boy in Loveland. It is mounted in an expensive gilded frame. Can anyone identify the lad?
(Special to the Reporter-Herald)

For the month of May, Littlefield set up approximately 700 of her collection in the office portion of the Loveland Feed and Grain building in an exhibit she calls "Collections and Memories." It is a fascinating study with a few silly pictures, but most are serious poses taken professionally.

In the process of collecting these photographs, she discovered a dark side. When a family did not have a photograph of a person during their life, they would have one taken professionally of the person after death. The eyes were painted on the image, and many of these are of children.

The exhibit draws a person to stare at these many portraits. It is mesmerizing wondering who they were, what life they lived and how such precious photographs were discarded. Many photographs were probably taken for a special occasion such as at graduation or after a marriage.

Does such a collection qualify as art? Certainly the way the photographs are positioned on the four walls is quite artistic, but photography can also be art in its own right. The formal photographs are obviously posed with backgrounds used by the photographer to enhance the image. Many of these backgrounds are scenes painted on cloth and hung behind the subject. Some of the images have been retouched to hide imperfections or enhance features.

In her own words, Littlefield ponders, "Who were they? What was happening around the photograph? Why did they have a photo done? Why were they discarded? We will never know the answers to these questions. The mystery in itself is worth pondering."

To see this exhibit, call Diane Littlefield at 988-6844 up until May 24.